


One Way Down This Road

by fauhnas



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Season/Series 03, pretty much day trip part 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 15:29:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7850566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fauhnas/pseuds/fauhnas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Raven and Monty discover a set of coordinates for a place they think can help solve the problem of impending doom, Bellamy and Clarke set out as soon as possible. Of course, things don't exactly go according to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Way Down This Road

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up a lot longer than I had originally intended, and I would have never finished without my wonderful friend and beta Kath (bellamybb) 
> 
> Title from the song Time Bomb by All Time Low

Clarke picked at the remnants of her breakfast as she sat alone in the mess hall. 

 

She mindlessly pulled off the top of her muffin as she tried to ignore the voice in her head telling her that she shouldn't just be sitting around. That she didn't deserve to be here if she wasn't contributing in some way. 

 

"You gonna finish that?"  

 

Clarke looked up at Bellamy and managed to crack half a smile as he slid into the chair across from hers.  

 

"We're not on rations anymore, you know," she chastised him lightly. "You're allowed to have your own food."  

 

Part of her knows he only asked because this was the most she'd eaten in weeks, and it was obvious Bellamy had been worried. It had become a routine, him always taking what was left on her plate. They both already had enough to feel guilty about, there was no need to add wasting food to that list. She handed him the muffin and he looked at her knowingly as he took her offering.  

 

"C'mon Clarke. We both know you love to share." His eyes crinkled with warmth as he took a bite, an almost smile made just with his eyes. 

 

She studied him quietly as he finished her meal and his own.  

 

 

His hair was starting to make him look unkept, the dark strands hiding the tips of his ears and covering the array of freckles splattered across his forehead. Somehow this only added to the compilation of his features. Unruly had always suited Bellamy. Even when they had first arrived on earth, it was that very spark of rebellion that had drawn the others to him.  

 

At times, she could still find that unruliness in his dark eyes, but more often than not all that they conveyed was concern. Even now, as he finished off her breakfast she saw it in his face, cued in by the small crease forming between his brows. 

 

 

Clarke cast her eyes down at the now empty tray in front of her. She wished she could draw him.  

 

Capture all his unruliness and concern in one sketch. Then she would have something of him to hold onto, so she would know he was real, even if she lost him too. She exhaled sharply and glanced back up. They would figure this out.  

 

Bellamy swallowed the remainder of his meal and met Clarke's worried gaze as she began to speak.  

 

"Ready to meet up with the others?" She made it a question, though she was already moving to stand. He nodded as they rose, and she paused before moving towards the exit, allowing him to fall into the familiar gait at her side.  

 

 

 

 

________________ 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking to Raven and Monty's makeshift headquarters always dampened Bellamy's mood. When Clarke had relayed ALIE's warning about earth being unsafe, he hadn't exactly imagined trying to save mankind by sitting around staring at computer screens all day.   

 

They couldn't run data and theorize forever. They had to take action at some point. Even if that meant telling everyone in Arkadia they would probably be dead in a few months.  

 

"Once Kane and my mother get back from sorting things out with the grounders we should tell them. They deserve to know the truth." Clarke voiced her thoughts in that matter-of-fact tone of hers. 

 

"You don't know what they would have decided to tell the grounders if they knew. The clans are unstable enough as it is without a commander. We couldn't know what they would do if they knew about the plants." Bellamy paused to glance over at Clarke as their footsteps fell in rhythm, noticing the anxious crease forming between her brows. "It was a good call." They stopped outside one of the hallway's many doors as Clarke turned to face him.  

 

"We could never be sure of that." Bellamy would do anything to lift the heaviness he heard in her voice.  

 

"If there's a way we'll find it, Clarke." Her eyes met his in silent thanks as they opened the door to Raven and Monty's workroom.  

 

 

It was a room filled with the only people on earth who knew the world was coming to an end.  

 

As he and Clarke stepped through the door, Bellamy surveyed the people he had come to call his friends. Raven and Monty worked intently on the computer they sat before, scrounging as much information as they could get off the remnants of the code still embedded in the chip. The rest were scattered around the floor, Jasper and Harper both sat uncharacteristically silent as they watched Monty work, while Miller and Bryan sat at a table adjacent from them, having a quiet and intense conversation all their own.  

 

They were all there, even if it felt like not everyone was accounted for.  

 

No matter how many times Bellamy joined the little group, part of him was always yearning to see that Octavia had made her way back to them. She was out there with no idea that in a matter of months radiation would have burned through everywhere but four percent of the earth. Bellamy had promised himself he would find her once they figured out a way to save everyone. Even if part of him knew there was a chance he couldn't protect her from it; that he couldn't protect any of them from it.  

 

He shifted his gaze to Clarke where she stood at his side. Her eyes were intense, watching the progress being made on the computer screens, and he recognized the fire burning behind the steel of her eyes, determined in places Bellamy had already given up. _We can figure this out_ , he thought.  

 

_________ 

 

 

There had to be something left from the ALIE code. Clarke refused to believe otherwise. When she had destroyed the City of Light the ALIE program had been deleted. But, according to Raven and Monty, there were still pieces, mostly data and statistical codes that had nothing to do with ALIE and her city, still encrypted into the chips.  

 

The AI must have created a whole script for discovering places that would be safe from the radiation. There had to be something left.  

 

 

Unable to stop herself, Clarke made her way to the computer screens, hovering behind Raven and Monty as they continued to work.  

 

"Have anything yet?" Clarke inquired. Raven responded with a long sideways glance to Monty, who returned her gaze.  

 

"Actually… we think we might."  

 

Everyone immediately turned towards the code running across the screens at Raven's words. Bellamy stepped up beside Clarke as Monty began to explain.  

 

"We didn't want to say anything until you were all here, but we found something." He paused, looking to Raven for confirmation and Clarke felt Bellamy tense next to her.  

 

"Are you going to tell us what that something is, or are you two just going to sit here stare at each other?" Bellamy demanded. Raven rolled her eyes as she turned to face the others.  

 

"Don't get your panties in a bunch Blake, we don't actually know what it means yet."  

 

"I thought you said you found something," Clarke snapped, "Not knowing isn't going to help any of us." Monty shook his head and typed a command on the keyboard.  

 

"Ye of little faith." He said as a string of numbers and letters appeared on the screen. 

 

"I said we didn't know what it meant, not what it was." Raven smirked. From his seat next to Bryan, Miller spoke up.  

 

"Aren't those coordinates?"  

 

"That they are my fine friend," Monty said. "And here's the kicker" he continued, "they're from the same code sequence that had the coordinates of Mount Weather." 

 

"Hopefully this place doesn't get blown up too." Jasper added. Harper gave him a small shove, but Clarke paid little attention to his comment.  

 

Her mind was racing. The Mountain had been one of the few places that could have withstood the radiation from the nuclear power plants, not to mention the massive amounts of tech that had been housed there. If there was another bunker like it anywhere near them, that could be their answer.  

 

 _They could survive._  

 

"How close are we to that location?" She asked. If it was close enough they could easily make it there and back by nightfall. They could have a solution by the time her mother and Kane returned from Polis.  

 

"Around twelve miles west of here," Raven answered. "But there's nothing marked in that location on any of our maps. It's possible that there's nothing there. For all we know that bitch ALIE is still screwing with us." 

 

"It doesn't matter," Clarke's mind was already made up. "If there's even a chance this could help us we have to check it out. 

 

"We need to go as soon as possible. Today would be best," Clarke said. Her voice oozed with desperation, but even to her own ears it was different than the pleading she was so used to hearing leave her mouth. This time her desperation was tinged with hope. Bellamy was the first to react to her appeal.  

 

"Let's get going then."  

 

_________ 

 

They had decided it would be best to remain as inconspicuous as possible. There was no reason to disturb the fragile state of relief that had enveloped the citizens of Arkadia for the past few weeks.    

 

Bellamy collected his rifle for guard duty, then promptly gave Sargent Miller a vague excuse about not feeling well, saying that Nathan would be covering his shift. The older man never questioned anything that allowed him to spend more time with his son.  

 

Bryan and Harper joined the Millers on guard duty, deciding it would look suspicious if more than one of them fell mysteriously ill and was unable to report to the wall.  

 

Engineering was always needing Monty or Raven for some odd job or another, so they would stay behind with Jasper, who still wasn't quite fit to go gallivanting outside the walls of Arkadia.  

 

Even though she hadn't said anything, Bellamy thought it was safe to assume Clarke would be the one joining him. She needed this to work out just as much as he did.  

 

 

As he arrived at Raven's gate, Bellamy was greeted by an array of blonde hair and a backpack filled with supplies already waiting for him. 

 

"You're sure no one's going to come looking for you?" He asked upon reaching her. "If they're expecting you in the clinic you should stay." It would be safer for her here anyway, he thought.  

 

Especially since they were going in blind. If something happened to her- he didn't even want to think about that possibility. He looked into her eyes, already intensely locked on his, as if she had been waiting until she had his complete attention before responding.  

 

"Bellamy, if you really believe I'm letting you go out there by yourself you might want to think again." She told him. And then more softly- "We're in this together."  

 

He nodded curtly and pursed his lips. Her words rang in his ears like a promise. No matter what they actually found out there, good or bad, they would bear it together. He wouldn't hold the responsibility of their people alone again. Bellamy took a deep breath and spoke into his walkie.  

 

"Ready when you are Raven." There were three beats of silence before a voice responded through the radio.  

 

"I shut her down. You're good to go." Raven said. "Don't have too much fun without us." He rolled his eyes before returning the walkie to its place on his belt and motioned to the fence.  

 

"After you." He said, and Clarke ducked through the fencing with Bellamy right behind her.  

 

 

 

________________ 

 

 

 

 

They had been walking silently through the thick green of the forest for what felt like hours. Treading through the new terrain Clarke couldn't help but think back to when they had first landed. The earth had seemed so pure then. Almost magical. She never expected they would barely be able to survive a full year on the ground; she hadn't expected a lot of what they had come to find on earth. 

 

 It was strange to realize how much everything had changed.  

 

She and Bellamy had hated each other, but now, as she followed his steady footsteps through the undergrowth, she couldn't imagine going through any of it without him by her side. They had both done so much for their people, and for better or for worse, they needed each other. And when they found a way to save their people, it would be together. They hadn't gone to the measures they had- hadn't killed all the people they had- to not be able to save their own. She doesn't think either of them would be able to survive the next six months knowing all the atrocities they had committed had been for nothing.  

 

 

Bellamy stopped suddenly, effectively halting Clarke's train of thought. He raised his riffle.  

 

"Stay sharp. Something's off." He took a few steps forward, scanning the area ahead of them.  

 

Clarke moved for her gun, but before she could grab it, someone was holding her, constricting her arms to her body. Her first instinct was to yell out for Bellamy, but the sound came out muffled as a gloved hand covered her mouth.  

 

_________ 

 

 

Bellamy whipped around at the muted cry that could have only come from Clarke. A grounder wearing a warrior's mask had grabbed her from behind. Bellamy quickly scanned the trees for the rest of an army, but wasn't surprised when no other grounders emerged. The fact that he hadn't been attacked while Clarke was being held as a hostage of sorts suggested that the warrior was alone.  

 

Clarke was only about ten feet away from him, but the grounder holding her shrunk behind her as if she was a shield, effectively stopping any chances Bellamy had at making a shot.  

 

Recognizing this, the masked figure quickly grabbed Clarke's gun, tossing it aside with the hand that had held her arms. The hand used to remove Clarke's gun drew a knife, and the grounder kept her mouth covered while positioning the blade at the base of Clarke's neck.  

 

Bellamy inhaled sharply. If this grounder thought he would give Clarke up without a fight, they were gravely mistaken.  

 

He wouldn't lose her. Not again.  

 

"Let her go." Bellamy broke the silence, eyes trained on the knife at Clarke's throat.  

 

"Wanheda must pay for what she has done," the grounder responded in a clearly feminine voice.  

 

"She's not your Wanheda," Bellamy spat back, "Now let her go." 

 

"She brought on the deaths of hundreds of my people," the grounder accused, loathing evident in her every articulation. "Including my Commander and her Flamekeeper. Your people cannot truly want her back. She brings death wherever she goes. We all deserve justice."  

 

Bellamy noticed a flash of emotion across Clarke's features at the woman's words. Her eyes locked with his and she nodded so slightly the grounder didn't even register the intention in her motion.  

 

Instinctively, Bellamy aimed his weapon to fire in the same instance Clarke bit down on the hand in her mouth, raising her arms to push away the knife at her throat, and allowed her body to fall to the ground as Bellamy took his shot.  

 

_________ 

 

Clarke watched from the ground as the woman who had held a knife to her throat just moments ago fell back from the force of a bullet entering her body.  

 

Yet another death they were responsible for. That _Clarke_ was responsible for. Ultimately, she had been the one the grounder was after, the one that brought death wherever she went. She rolled onto her stomach, away from the dead woman beside her, trying to ignore the burning in her eyes and the stinging on her throat.   

 

 

Before Clarke even had a chance to push herself up, Bellamy was at her side, helping her crawl into a leaning position against a nearby tree as he dropped to one knee in front of her.  

 

"You okay?" He took her upper arms in his hands as he looked her over, a guilted expression contorting his face as his eyes landed at the bottom of her neck. "You're hurt." 

 

Clarke's hand went immediately to the source of the stinging at the base of her throat, feeling the wound. The blade must have grazed her skin before she had a chance to fully shove away the knife. It was shallow, just deep enough to draw blood, certainly nothing fatal.  

 

"It's only a cut, I'll be fine." The look on Bellamy's face begged to differ, and Clarke knew his mind was filtering through the myriad of poisons they had seen used by the grounders. "There's a med kit in the pack you can use to clean the wound." 

 

 Bellamy swung the bag off his back and began to riffle through it, retrieving the slim black box that carried their medical supplies. He carefully placed it on the ground before opening the case to reveal more bandages and disinfectant than two people could ever realistically need for a day trip, and shot Clarke an incredulous look.  

 

"How much shit did you think we were gonna get into out here?" Bellamy asked, bemusement playing at his lips.  

 

"You mean how much shit did I think _you_ were going to get into." She retorted, as he carefully wet a cloth with alcohol to clean out her scrape, "You can't say I don't come prepared." 

 

"I don't think anyone could ever say that about you, Clarke." He said, softly bringing the cloth to the base of her neck. A low hiss escaped her throat at the sting of alcohol mixing with her open wound.  

 

 

She watched him silently, dark waves nearly falling into his worried eyes. Always the look of concern.  

 

She knew it was only because of how deeply he cared, as much for those they had saved as those they had lost.  

 

It made her wish she was capable of letting all they had done and all they would do dissipate in their proximity.  

 

It would be so easy to let herself get lost in the closeness of their breath and the feel of his wrist resting on her clavicle.  

 

But even he couldn't stop the grounder's words from ringing in her head, _she brings death wherever she goes_. 

 

"What if she was right?" Clarke asked. Bellamy glanced at her, his brow furrowing at her words. 

 

"Everyone I love is dead because of," her voice cracked, "because of me."  

 

 

An emotion Clarke couldn't quite catch flashed across Bellamy's face before settling on one of understanding, with only a twinge of remorse. He continued to clean her wound as he spoke.  

  

"You're not the only one trying to forgive yourself, Clarke." He paused for a moment to smile sadly after repeating her words from what felt like a lifetime ago. "You were only doing what had to be done."  

 

She could tell by the hurt in his eyes that he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was her.   

 

Moving her hand from where it had been resting in the dirt, she brought it to her neck, placing her fingers over his, stopping his motions so he would look at her.  

 

They were both sinking, and there was no way in hell she would let the guilt drown them both. 

 

"Hey, we all were." Everything they had done, all the pain and loss and death would be worth it if they could save their people. Even if her demons never stopped waking her up at night. She knew it was harder for him, that not all his demons were ghosts. "Octavia will come around, so will Kane." She paused as he looked away from the desperation in her eyes. "And Bellamy, for what it's worth, I forgive you."  

 

 _________ 

 

 

Bellamy had a hard time listening to her like this, yearning so apparent in her voice. He didn't deserve forgiveness. Not from her. Not like this.  

 

He shrugged his hand out from under Clarke's and hastily shoved the medical supplies back into their pack.  

 

"I think it's clean enough." He moved to stand, but something about the pain in her eyes stopped him. Clarke was hurting, and yet she had still been the one to comfort him. _She deserves better than you_ a voice in the back for his mind told him.  

 

He knelt back down to her level, wetting his lips before speaking.  

 

"I'm glad you came back with us after ALIE." And he meant it. No matter how angry Bellamy was before, he knew they needed her. That he couldn't do this without her.  

 

"They didn't need me in Polis anymore." He knows her well enough to recognize what she's not saying. That Lexa was gone and Clarke couldn't bear to look at that building for one more second. He didn't know what to say. _Gina's gone too_ somehow couldn't belong in the space between Bellamy's mouth and Clarke's ears. It was silent for a beat before she spoke again, more softly. "I wasn't going to leave you again, Bellamy."   

 

He felt his heart squeeze in his chest at her words. Still looking in her eyes, he nodded and cleared his throat, then returned his attention to the pack and pulled out the map Raven had marked for them before standing.  

 

He stretched out his hand, helping Clarke up to her feet before turning his mind back to their location. It wouldn't matter if she was going to stay with him if they only had six months left to live.  

 

 

Over the course of their time on the ground, he'd gotten pretty good at reading maps and distances with the landmarks that were still standing. According to the map, they were less than a quarter mile from the coordinates the ALIE code had given them. Less than half a mile away from saving their people.  

 

Bellamy relayed this information to Clarke, and it was like his words had infused her with a new vigor.  

 

As they started back on their path he could feel the tension radiating off of her as she walked by his side. He knew the question neither of them would ask was bouncing around in her head: _what if we don't find anything?_  

 

He knew neither of them really wanted to think about the answer.  

 

"Would you mind if we ran?" Clarke broke the tense silence. They both knew getting there faster wouldn't change what they found, but they had to try. Had to believe they at least had a chance at saving their people.  

 

And a small part of Bellamy hoped that if he could save them, maybe, just maybe, he would deserve to be saved too.  

 

"Only if you don't mind me beating you there." He replied, a ghost of a smile forming at his lips as he began to jog through the trees.   

 

 _________ 

 

 

As Clarke attempted to keep Bellamy's pace, she was surprised to find that her lungs didn't burn when she ran anymore. The first few times they had fled for their lives she had been a little less than shocked to find the air burned her throat, punishing her cowardice.  

 

Back on the Ark, oxygen had been tasteless, but a gift that was much too precious to be wasted, none the less. On the ground, every breath carried a sweetness Clarke had never experienced before.  

 

 

After all her time on earth her lungs had stopped feeling like a fire had been lit in them as she ran. Now she inhaled deeply as she listened to the sounds of her own feet and a pair of others running quickly through the forest. She wondered if the air burned Bellamy's throat as they moved, if it ever even had.  

 

And Clarke decided that it was appropriate that the fire had ceased. Rather than away from death, they were now running towards hope, fueled by a burning promise in their veins.  

 

They could save their people. Not believing that wasn't an option.  

 

And as they reached a small clearing in the trees, Clarke truly let herself think that they might have a chance.  

 

This was clearly the place they were supposed to be. Right in front of them was a distended area of ground, much like many of the stone buildings that had been covered by a hundred years of wilderness. The plants and trees still grew, but there was something odd about the way they looked rooted in the ground. Almost like the building just under the surface of the earth was preventing the plant life from taking hold.  

 

 

She looked over at Bellamy, who was glancing back and forth between the map and the scene around them.  

 

"This should be it. Let's try and find a way in." He folded the map and began to walk toward the covered building.  

 

She quickly followed. Something about the silence in the clearing was eerie, and it put Clarke on edge. The sooner they figured out why ALIE had stored the coordinates of this place, the better.  

 

It didn't take long to find an entrance. The roof of the structure was equipped with an emergency exit of sorts, which was easy enough to pry open after being worn down by the elements for so long.  

 

 

Clarke went in first, the ladder somehow still intact after so many years. Each foot hitting a rung echoed out through the building.  

 

When her feet finally hit solid ground she turned away from the ladder, listening as Bellamy stepped down beside her, shining his flashlight into the space where they stood.  

 

The room, though war torn by the earth, held a strange familiarity Clarke couldn't quite shake. Across from them was a large glass front cabinet filled to the brim with books, with a worn rocking chair to its right and a large, dirt covered couch to its left that a small table sat in front of. It didn't seem like the type of place that could save them all.  

 

She felt Bellamy trailing her closely as she made her way to the cabinet and swung it open. Though the room around them had been ravaged by time, the cabinet had somehow managed to protect the books well enough.  

 

She gripped the book with the largest spine, gently pulling from the shelf and opening it to the first page. She ran her fingers softly over the photograph pasted there, two lovers, a man and a woman, impeccably dressed and standing at an altar, smiled giddily up at her as she read the caption in loopy handwriting: _our wedding album_

 

"This was a home." She whispered.  

 

It wasn't like the bunker near the dropship. These people had done more than just survive in this place.  

 

They had lived and loved and maybe even grown old here.  

 

Clarke couldn't help but wonder if they would ever get that.  

 

"I haven't heard of a whole lot of homes with escape hatches." Bellamy said, and she could tell that he was still on edge.  

 

Clarke halfheartedly returned the photo album to its place in the cabinet.  

 

"Let's go find whatever ALIE had the coordinates for." She said.  

 

 

_________ 

 

 

The house made Bellamy uneasy. Something about the place was just _wrong_ to him, and the sooner they could leave, the better.  

 

Clarke led them carefully from room to room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and then a bedroom, finding nothing but useless artifacts in the tiny house.  

 

 

She waited silently in the doorway to the bedroom, quizzically studying its limited contents. The bed, dresser, and small closet Bellamy stood near had already been checked about a hundred times. She turned slightly, as if moving to go search the rest of the building again, when Bellamy interrupted her.  

 

"We've checked every room Clarke. There's nothing here." He tried to keep his voice soft, but he could hear his own frustration seeping through.  

 

She turned back to face him, her expression something akin to anguish.  

 

"There can't be nothing! We don't have anything else, Bellamy!" She took a deep breath and looked up toward the ceiling. "We can't just leave with nothing. We should keep looking, maybe-" She stopped short as her head snapped forward, eyes zeroing in next to Bellamy as she began to walk quickly forward.  

 

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes when she proceeded to swing open the closet door and step inside.  

 

"We already looked in there, Clarke." He sighed. "I don't think old clothes will help us survive the second Armageddon."  

 

Rather than respond, Clarke began ripping clothing from their hangars, throwing them into a pile at Bellamy's feet.  

 

By the time he realized what she was doing, Clarke was already done. Behind where the clothes had hung stood a door, unrecognizable except for a small wooden handle.  

 

 

Bellamy glanced over at Clarke, only to find her gaze already upon him, something like hope lighting her eyes. He looked back towards the door to avoid getting lost in them and handed Clarke the flashlight as he moved toward the door. This had to be it.  

 

With one hand on his gun, Bellamy grasped the handle, pulling the door open to reveal a flight of stairs descending from where they stood.  

 

He looked back at Clarke, a silent agreement passing through them as he hoisted his rifle up and she shone the flashlights beam in front of them, allowing Bellamy to lead their descent down the steps.  

 

His heart was practically beating out of his chest. This had to be it, even if they had no idea what _it_ was.  

 

 

His mind flits to Octavia, somewhere out there with the grounders, having no idea that the world was about to end. And even though she hated him, all he could think about was being able to save her, even as she hates him. Being able to save all of them. Like maybe preserving their lives could somehow make up for the ones he had taken. Even though deep down, as sure as the breath he draws and each stair he treads down, he knew that he didn't deserve to survive.  

 

At the bottom of the steps, they were faced with yet another door. This one was much more daunting somehow, maybe because of all that rested on what lay behind it.  

 

The door reminded Bellamy of those leading into Mount Weather, large and industrial looking, but without the small plexiglass window. He glanced back at Clarke, who nodded, the small tilt of her head conveying what they both were thinking: together.  

 

He began to push on the door, the metal cold and solid under his left hand. It gave way easier than he expected it to, moving forward with a strange hiss that Bellamy assumed was the airtight seal being breached.  

 

Grabbing back onto his gun, he held open the door with his shoulder and allowed Clarke to illuminate the space with the flashlight.  

 

 

_________ 

 

 

Clarke felt Bellamy's breath catch as she settled beside him, bringing light to the room they had opened.  

 

Unlike the house above them, this place seemed untouched, as if time had just frozen in place since the last time the door had been opened.  

 

It wasn't a very large room, only made smaller by the dark cement walls and large piece of machinery looming in the back of the space.  

 

An old wooden desk sat near the center of the room, adorned with only a single computer monitor and its keyboard.  

 

Clarke stepped further into the room, compelled by what lay before her. This had to be it. Whatever was in this room had the potential to save them all.  

 

Walking up behind the desk, Clarke noticed the cords running from the monitor to the machine. She followed them carefully, until she was finally face to face with the large piece of equipment. It was old, but Clarke had spent enough time with engineers in her life to recognize what was right in front of her.  

 

"It's a mainframe computer." She breathed, just loud enough for Bellamy to hear from where he still stood apprehensively in the doorway. "There might be a program on it that can help us."  

 

"I wasn't exactly a fan of the last computer program we ran into." Bellamy deadpanned. "Let's go get the others. Raven and Monty will know what to do with it."  She could hear the disappointment in his voice and knew he had been expecting something more tangible to their salvation, a military base, a bunker. Something more than _this._

 

 

Rather than turn to him, Clarke ran her eyes over the computer, looking for some type of on switch.  

 

"We can radio them. I don't we should risk going back." She raised a hand, poised to touch the face of the machinery.  

 

"Just wait until the others get here. We don't know what safety protocols are on that thing." Clarke looked back at Bellamy as he stepped into the room, releasing the door from beneath his shoulder.  

 

 

The door swung shut slowly behind him, and as it clicked into place a hum of electricity filled the air.  

 

Ceiling lights blinked on, and a dull yellow light illuminated the room. The computer began to whir to life, and Clarke instinctively took a step back in Bellamy's direction, keeping her eyes on the machine.  

 

Even if it didn't hold the locations of the four percent of inhabitable earth, she knew they could more than likely use it to find those places.  

 

They'd done their part. Monty and Raven would be able to easily finish the job. Saving their people wasn't just a distant possibility anymore. It was _likely_.  

 

 

She was jarred from her planning when Bellamy spoke, his voice almost panicked.  

 

"Clarke."  

 

She whipped around, only to find him standing hunched behind the desk, staring intensely at the monitor in front of him. As she walked cautiously towards him she clicked off the flashlight and placed it on the corner of the desk before gently putting that very same hand on Bellamy's shoulder and leaned forward to take in what appeared on the screen.  

 

A bar in the middle of the screen prompted for a password to be entered, while above it a timer had begun to tick down, 4:41, 4:40, 4:39.  

 

As she took in the rest of the screen, Clarke knew it was neither of these things that had caused Bellamy to call out to her in trepidation. Just above the timer a small message flashed in red lettering: _time to_ _self destruct_ _._   

 

" _Fuck._ " Clarke whispered. She could feel Bellamy's wide eyes on her, and she knew he was already blaming himself for her death.  

 

 

Instead of returning his gaze, she swiped the radio from where it was fastened on his belt. This seemed to shock Bellamy into action, and he ran to the door as she attempted to radio in.  

 

"Raven." Nothing but static. "Monty, come in!" She knew it was useless, that the signal would never go through multiple feet of cement underground. But as she listened to Bellamy throw his body into the handleless door, she tried one last time. "Ark station, do you copy?" The radio answered with dull static, and Clarke slammed it down onto the desk in frustration.  

 

"God dammit!" Bellamy yelled as he gave the door one last shove before running his hand through his hair and walking back over to Clarke. Before he made it to her, he had already rammed his fist into the side of the desk. "Fuck!" 

 

 

He looked at her with wild eyes as she gently grasped his hand that was still clenched in a fist, running her fingers over his already reddening knuckles.  

 

Bellamy dragged his free hand across his face as he allowed his heavy breaths to slow.  

 

"I'm so sorry, Clarke."  

 

"Hey. Look at me, Bellamy," the pain in his eyes jarred her, but she continued anyway. "We're going to be okay."  

 

He gently pulled his hand away from hers, but still nodded slightly at her words.  

 

She bit her lip and glanced around the room, eyes finally landing back on the screen.  

 

"I don't think unplugging it would be a smart move." She felt her brows knit together as she finally allowed herself to look up at him. "I doubt guessing will do us any good either." She took a deep breath.  

 

We'll figure this out. She thought. We always do.  

 

"I can always shoot it." Bellamy attempted a smile as he motioned towards the computer.  

 

01:45 

 

They both knew he would never do it. Not when there was a chance some part of it could somehow survive a blast. Their people would come looking for them soon enough. Maybe even after they were gone, they could still save them.  

 

Clarke ripped open the drawers of the desk, desperately searching for something, anything that could save them.  

 

A frustrated yell left her lips when she realized they were all empty.  

 

Maybe there wasn't a way out this time. Maybe this was just it.  

 

They both stood there, eyes glued to the screen as they silently contemplated all they had done to get to where they stood.  

 

Bellamy removed his rifle from where it had been slung across his body, placing it gently on the desk, apparently resigned to their fate.   

 

00:50 

 

He peered back at her, and she responded to his gaze. As she looked into his eyes, she couldn't help but wonder what she had done to deserve a friend like him by her side, and if there was anything she could have done to save him.   

 

A small, selfish part of her was glad she couldn't. That they would both die this way, that their final journey home would be together.  

 

She didn't think she could have survived if another person she loved died. Especially if that person was Bellamy Blake.   

 

 

He spoke softly to her then, and something about his voice made her feel like she wasn't about to die already buried in a cement tomb. Like maybe, just maybe, she was already home.  

 

"You did everything you could, Clarke," he breathed. "Raven and Monty are smart. They'll figure it out. They'll find a way to save them."  

 

They both knew what he wasn't saying. That maybe it was better this way. That it was possible they didn't really deserve to survive after everything they had done.  

 

He was probably right.  

 

She looked away from him then, her eyes locking on the timer that was counting down to the end of their lives.  

 

00:24 

 

Squeezing her eyes shut to block out their incomprehensible fate, Clarke thought of the dead.  

 

Their images ran through her mind; Atom, begging for a merciful death; Wells, Charlotte, Anya. Lincoln and Sinclair. Finn with his final "thanks princess."  

 

Lexa.  

 

All alongside her father, welcoming her into the montage of those whose fights had ended too soon.  

 

 

 _May we meet again_ , she thought. Bellamy's hand enveloped her own and she squeezed, sending the words silently toward him.  

 

00:18 

 

The gentle tightening of her hand around his own sent shivers running up Bellamy's arm. 

 

It was suitable, he thought, that they would die together, side by side.  

 

They had gone through a hell of a lot just to be decimated into a mist of blood and shrapnel, but after all that had happened on earth, hand in hand with the girl he loved seemed like the right way to go.  

 

Bellamy glanced down at their entwined fingers then up at Clarke's face, the crease between her brow and pinked cheeks achingly familiar to him.  

 

As if responding to the intensity of his gaze, she turned to him, exhaling softly as she opened her eyes to meet his, all the depth and emotion he saw reduced to a whisper of what could have been.  

 

And God, he could have made her his everything.  

 

Without any thought, he brought his unoccupied hand to her flushed cheek, gently stroking her face with his thumb, drinking her in one last time.  

 

00:14 

 

Clarke couldn't bear the hurt she saw in his eyes, as he looked at her like he was trying to say goodbye.  

 

She couldn't let him believe this was the end for them.  

 

Together, even in death. She wouldn't leave him again. He had to know that.  

 

So she closed the distance between them by bringing her lips to his.  

 

It was an innocent kiss, his mouth soft against her own for the split second before she pulled away, eyes closed, remaining near enough to feel the shaky inhalation of his breath before letting her lips rest against his once again.  

 

 

It was oddly familiar in a way, an extension of how physically close they had already become, constantly acting in tandem with one another on a vital level.  

 

Being so close to Bellamy reminded her what it felt like to do more than just survive. What it felt like to actually live.  

 

And he made her want to do that, to be truly alive.  

 

 With that thought, she brought her free hand to the back of his neck, holding him closer as she deepened their kiss.  

 

00:08 

 

She was kissing him. They were about to die and she was kissing him.  

 

And Bellamy was kissing her back.  

 

It was almost like he was finally found, after so long of being lost.  

 

Her hands found his face, thumbs stroking flushed cheeks, fingers entwining themselves in dark curls, pulling him toward her, inhaling him.  

 

Every unsung emotion seemed to be realizing itself in the constricted area between their chests, every 'I need you' set free in a desperate fervor.  

 

Bellamy brought his hands to her waist and pulled her against him, continuing to kiss her hot and heavy.  

 

 He couldn't get close enough, she was the only thing left.  

 

In the face of death, there was only Clarke. 

 

 He bit her lip and gripped her back, like she was the last anchor to the earth and he was about to float away.  

 

And as she laved her tongue into his mouth, he knew he would have died a thousand deaths if it meant that he could just save _her_.  

 

 

In the background of it all, Bellamy registered a click as the deafening whir of the machines ceased, leaving only the pounding of his heart and the sound of her mouth on his.  

 

She pulled back slightly and took a breath, a crease quickly forming between her brows.  

 

 

It was only then that he realized they were alive.  

 

He released her waist immediately, and hoped he didn't imagine the flash of disappointment that ran across her face.  

 

Looking to the monitor and then to the computer, as far as Bellamy could tell, they had simply been shut off. Or maybe just destroyed internally, somehow.  

 

 

But that was a problem for another day. He allowed his gaze to fall to Clarke, her breaths still heavy though her expression was unreadable.  

 

Unable to fully process the extent of what had just occurred, Bellamy silently watched her as she stared into the seeming abyss of the deathly quiet room.   

 

  

"Well," Clarke finally broke the silence. "We're not dead." 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'll more than likely allow myself to be coerced into writing a second part to this so all comments and kudos are very much appreciated! 
> 
> Thanks again to Kath love you girl
> 
> (Also if you want to come talk to me I'm griffndors on tumblr)


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